The Donnelly Ridge Site and the Definition of an Early Core and Blade Complex in Central Alaska

Abstract

Excavations carried out at the site of Donnelly Ridge in central Alaska have led to the delineation of an early core and blade culture which includes the Campus site and two sites previously excavated on the Teklanika River to the west. Sites of the Denali complex are linked by distinctive microblade cores, core tablets and microblades derived from the latter, large blades, biconvex bifacial knives, certain end-scraper forms, a distinctive burin type, and other traits. The clearest affiliations of the Denali complex are with a series of late Upper Palaeolithic sites west of Lake Baikal, but relationships may be seen with sites in Hokkaido and Kamchatka as well. The bearers of this culture probably entered Alaska prior to the final submergence of the Bering land bridge.

A Terminal Pleistocene Child Cremation and Residential Structure from Eastern Beringia

“…Cultural chronologies for central Alaska are debated, but currently two broad interpretations for the late Pleistocene-early Holocene are as follows: (i) a single broad technological tradition with variation based on habitat use, sea- (25,26,31,32). USRS Component 3 appears to be most closely associated with the regionally ubiquitous Denali Complex (or Paleoarctic tradition) (33).…”

The Paleohistory of Circumpolar Arctic Colonization

“…The macrolithic element comprises bifacial tools with flat progressive retouching, and blade tools; the microlithic element is represented by very small bladelets obtained from Gobi cores (Anderson, 1970). The Denali industry, recognized for the first time at the famous "Campus site" near Fairbanks, also includes Gobitype cores for the manufacture of microlithic blades, blade burins, bifacial leaf points, and flake scrapers (Hadleigh-West, 1967). A relationship between these industries and the Diouktay culture seems probable, and is, moreover, confirmed by the successful economic adaptation of groups of this culture to arctic conditions.…”

“…It is to these industries, in particular to the Diouktay culture, that the origin of the peopling of the American arctic zone must be attributed. According to a new hypothesis (Hadleigh-West, 1981), the predecessors of the Diouktay culture and those of the American paleo-arctic tradition (Anderson, 1970) must be sought in Beringia. This would mean that this population arrived in Beringia before the introduction of specialized bifacial points, and spread into both Siberia and Alaska after their invention.…”

Microcores and microliths in Northwestern Plains and Rocky Mountain front lithic assemblages

“…When produced from formally prepared cores such as those found in the American Paleoarctic tradition (APAt) and Denali complex, microblades tend to have parallel lateral margins as well. Characteristics of microblade cores in the APAt and Denali complex include: (1) bifacial preforms, the remnants of which can be seen on the sharp-edged keels or bases (Figure 3a); (2) blade removal across the width of the core, making them frontally faced (Figure 3b); and (3) a generalized wedge-shaped morphology when viewed from above and head-on toward the flutes (West 1967(West , 1996 (Figure 3b). The generally accepted model of microblade manufacture in the Denali and Paleoarctic traditions of Alaska is that tens or hundreds of microblades were manufactured and only the most uniform were selected for further use or modification (Clark 1992).…”